Sunday, July 26, 2009

July 26, 2009



My annual Golf trip is this week. Missed it last
year because of a work emergency. Been doing it
with old-time friends for over fifteen years. 36 holes,
sleepover, cards, and of course, plenty of beer.



I'm not that good. Probably will shoot about a 120.
When I used to play a lot, I could shoot on the low 90s.
Now, once a year and hope the muscle memory stays true.



Beer and cards and a full sit-down dinner.
A real relaxing time.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

July 25, 2009



Early morning visitors.



Sycamore Farms only had Bi-color Corn.
Four for $2, or 60¢ each. Getting bigger ears now.



Sort of Cornucopia look. Meal for the day
is Lobster/Calamari Quesadilla.



Read this every year it comes out. Got to get
my science fix.



Nice summer beer. Smuttynose brews it.
If Obama and the Cambridge Sgt. share a beer,
it should be this one. The word is Blue Moon will be
served. Ok, but not as good as this one.



This is a wonderful, full-bodied Stout.



Actors Bios are always on my list. So far, this
is a good read. His lifelong Morphine addiction
is a sub-theme.



Two great movies on tonight. TCM: A Night at the Opera.
Love the beginning of this trailer.



Local PBS Channel 13 : Kubrick's Lolita.



L Magazine has a good Summer Fiction issue.



This is a real good one.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

July 19, 2009 - Woodstock Memories



Before I start, a plug for Bethel Woods.



Wow, it will be 40 years next month. My folks had a Summer
place near White Lake, so that is how I attended this wild party.
I didn't see many acts. I got there late because my brother
got married that weekend. The County was closed, but a friend
and I went the back way, Route 55. The County line had a
roadblock but we convinced the State Troopers we lived there
(which we did.)We had to tell them the name of who owned the
White Lake Liquor Store. We passed , as we knew Charlie Sabini.
We arrived late Saturday August 16.

The festival was completely disorganized. Lots of down time, lots
of rain but the price was right - FREE. When we arrived
on Sunday, they were just playing tapes -Joan Baez. I climbed
a tree in the back to get a panoramic view and met a guy from
my neighborhood on a branch. He said yo, and I nodded and that
was it. Nothing much more to say. You always bump into somebody in a tree.



Missed Santana, but this clip really captures the flavor.
In the beginning you see people bathing in Filippini Pond.
Man, that was stupid, that pond was full of Snakes. People
were also bathing in standing water near chicken coops.
Not very bright.



I was there for this one. It was cold, wet,and it
stunk to high heaven. The stage was on the bottom
of a Cow Field. I swore after "I'm Going Home" that
Alvin Lee would be a star.

I looked up the set lists ,here is what I was there for:

Ten Years After
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes
I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always
Hear Me Calling
I'm Going Home

The Band - Set list confirmed in Levon Helm's book "This Wheel's On Fire"
Chest Fever
Tears of Rage
We Can Talk
Don't You Tell Henry
Don't Do It
Ain't No More Cane
Long Black Veil
This Wheel's On Fire
I Shall Be Released
The Weight
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

(I eventually saw The Band in Concert three other
times. They were a great Live band.)

Blood, Sweat & Tears ushered in the midnight hour with five songs.
More and More
I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
Spinning Wheel
I Stand Accused
Something Comin' On

Johnny Winter featuring his brother, Edgar Winter, on two songs.
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter
To Tell the Truth
Johnny B. Goode
Six Feet In the Ground
Leland Mississippi Blues/Rock Me Baby
Mean Mistreater
I Can't Stand It (with Edgar Winter)
Tobacco Road (with Edgar Winter)
Mean Town Blues

My friend swears we were there for Jefferson Airplane and
Jimi Hendrix. I don't remember that , but then I clearly remember
Johnny Winter but not Blood Sweat and Tears.

I have the Woodstock 69 CDs and I will be
playing them through August.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

July 18, 2009 - Field Trip



Ate at Acme Bar and Grill, 9 Great Jones Street, New York, NY.
Real nice Southern Brunch.



Fun place with a wall of Hot Sauce. Above are two that were
near my table: Bite Me and Louisiana Swamp Scum Hot Sauce.



Went to Crate and Barrel for over-sized Vineyard
Wine glasses. Drinking some wine right now.



Since it was nearby, checked out Bowery Whole Foods
Beer Room. Friendly staff , and an impressive selection of beers.



Took home a 32 oz. growler.



Picked up a growler last night of
Blue Point Rastafa Rye, 7% ABV. Excellent taste.

July 18, 2009



The Flowers at the Greenmarket always look good.



Peaches at Terhune's Orchards.



Early beats the crowds.



Real nice day.



Cauliflowers in the sun.



Lobster and Scallops from P.E. and D.D. Seafood,
will make Lobster Quesadillas. Sycamore Farms had
White and Bi-Color corn to go with it.

Friday, July 17, 2009

July 17, 2009



Feynman Lectures Online:

Project TUVA was mentioned in the NYT's Tierney Lab blog this week. Bill Gates announced that he had purchased the rights to videos of seven lectures that Dr. Feynman gave at Cornell University called “The Character of Physical Law,” in an effort to make them broadly available via the Internet. I watched part of Lecture One, Wow ! What a gift !

Thursday, July 16, 2009

July 16, 2009



Smith & Wollensky was great. Went for the $40 wine special.
Since wine was $12 a glass, this made sense. Service was
superb and because we went at 2:00 p.m. , the place wasn't a
madhouse. The Filet Mignon was done just right and the
Hashed Browns ( Add $7) were a real treat. Will be going to
Crate and Barrel to get some over-sized Wine glasses like
were used here.

Monday, July 13, 2009

July 13, 2009



This is the first choice for Restaurant Week.
The menu looks great. Got to go with Surf 'n Turf.
Beer menu looks sparse, will decide later if wine is better.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

July 12, 2009



HBO on Demand had Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It, set in Japan circa 19th century.

Kevin Kline's as melancholy Jaques gives the "Seven Ages of Man" speech:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,



Went to the Sunday Tompkins Square Farmer's
Market. Small but good. The Pura Vida Boat had
a stand.



I was on the hunt for Corn and got some
good ears. White Corn and Bi-Color.



Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout hit the spot at Hop Devil Grill up the block at 129 St. Marks Place. The Stout clocks in around 10% ABV.



Otter Creek Brewing is in Vermont.



Cheap Shots and Beer at 140 First Ave., New York, NY 10003
nr. 9th St. Trying hard to be a dive bar and succeeding.
"Cheap Shots is DA Bomb !"



Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce is my current favorite stock sauce. Cooked about 4 pounds of Pork Loin, and split it: ½ in Sweet Baby Ray’s, modified of course, and ½ in East Carolina Sauce.

East Carolina Sauce

Serves: 1 Servings

Ingredients:
1 c Vinegar
2 tb Brown sugar
2 tb Red pepper flakes
1 ts Cayenne
1 ts Black pepper
1 ts Salt
1/2 c Water (optional)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

July 11, 2009



A little crowded at 8:45 a.m.



Broccoli in the sun.



Sycamore Farms Corn, little fellas, 60¢ an ear.



Sunflower.



First of season Peaches. $4 a pound.



My favorite Peach - Terhune Orchards.
Tree-Ripened, do not squeeze !



Lunch is Crab Cakes and Weak Fish from P.E. and D.D. Seafood,
and Corn on the Cob.



Just started this post-apocalyptic tale, McCarthy is a
writer of lean prose.



Beer for the weekend is this Summer Ale.
Don't be fooled by the Blue Moon Brewing Company.
This is made by Coors.

Friday, July 10, 2009

July 10, 2009



Scaramouche, a great classic, was on Turner Classic Movies
this week. IMDB says Stewart Granger was the second best fencer
in Hollywood. The best ? Basil Rathbone. Janet Leigh is excellent
in this one as is Eleanor Parker.


Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times

NYT Blog When Brooklyn Brewed the World.



War of the Worlds 2005, saw this on DVD, worth watching for
Special Effects. Love dem horns.



Al Pacino's Looking for Richard was on Cable tonight.
Always interesting, does a nice take on Richard's oration to his Army.

What shall I say more than I have inferr'd? Remember whom you are to cope withal; A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways, A scum of Bretons, and base lackey peasants, Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth To desperate ventures and assured destruction. You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest; You having lands, and blest with beauteous wives, They would restrain the one, distain the other. And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost? A milk-sop, one that never in his life Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow? Let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again; Lash hence these overweening rags of France, These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives; Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit, For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd themselves: If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us, And not these bastard Bretons; whom our fathers Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd, And in record, left them the heirs of shame. Shall these enjoy our lands? lie with our wives? Ravish our daughters?



Ian McKellen is my favorite Richard.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

July 5, 2009 - At the Movies

Killing time after the Yankee game, SyFy has Blade Runner
and Movies on Demand has On the Waterfront.



Rutger Hauer improvised at the end where he releases a dove as he dies. The dove liked being in Hauer's hands so much that it didn't want to fly away. They had to fudge it in post-production.



Steiger said that Brando left for an appointment with a shrink before Steiger had a chance to do his close-ups and Steiger was left to play to a script person. Steiger said he probably used the abandonment to wrench out an even greater performance.
Score is great : Leonard Bernstein. His only original film score, it was nominated for an Oscar.



On Sundays, I always watch CBS Sunday Morning. Today was really good with a pieces on Henry Hudson , Happy Birthday Secret Service and Bobby Flay on Grilled Corn. Tonight, I will try Corn on the George Foreman Grill. I looked on the Internet for advice.

I tried two different methods : with Husks and without. I have to say , on the George Foreman, without Husks is better. 5-6 minutes is good if you turn a lot



The Secret Service Division was created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency.